Styrofoam and plastic bottles main culprits at beach cleanup

On 23 September 2017, S.E.A. Aquarium held its second beach cleanup this year at Tanah Merah Beach Site 7. This time, we had 80 volunteers combing 100 metres of the beach, who ended up collecting 7,176 pieces of litter weighing a total of 290 kilogrammes.

The day began with a quick briefing at 8.30am, before hitting the beach for some good ol’ backbreaking pick-em-up.

This trash bag was filled with plastic bottles in less than 5 minutes.

Young volunteers were busy doing their part for the ocean too.

Staff of TOA Corporation, stationed in a site office here as part of their breakwater building project, also helped out spontaneously. Project Administration Manager Mr Said Bajerai saw our volunteers and decided to rally his colleagues to help out.

“Taking care of the environment is part and parcel of our work. For example prior to building the breakwater, we had to move some of the corals aside to avoid destroying them. We are definitely keen to join S.E.A. Aquarium in their future beach cleanups.”

Staff of TOA Corporation and S.E.A. Aquarium.

After an hour (and a storm looming in the distance), it was time to wrap up and weigh the day’s haul.

64 bags, 290kg of litter in just about an hour.

Based on the collated data, foam pieces (3,868 pieces) and plastic beverage bottles (1,441 pieces) were the most commonly found litter.

What a difference an hour made:

Once again, a big thank you to all volunteers for making our beach cleanup a success!

We can all do our part by reducing single-use plastic usage – by bringing reusable bags, cups and straws, avoiding products with excess packaging, and disposing trash properly to keep our beaches clean.

Another way to take action against marine trash is to participate in our subsequent beach cleanups. Meanwhile, join us at our next event – World Animal Day Celebrations. Click here for details and to register.